There've been a number of parades over the years where we've turned up not sure what to expect only to be wowed by the scale and wackiness of them. Amsterdam's Queen's Day is one, Winchester's Bonfire Night is another, and this is one more, Sydney's Mardi Gras gay parade.
We turned up at the Oxford Street location with about an hour to spare thinking that would be sufficient to bag a prime viewing spot. How wrong we were. You forget how populated Sydney and its suburbs are when you turn up to these types of events. And that's not factoring in the thousands of tourists who must descend on this parade given its history and promotion.
We fought our hardest for an optimal viewing position.
I was adamant to get a good view of the parade to get some video footage so after a bit of stealthy snaking amongst the crowds and befriending some American folks, who had been given a recommendation to bring some milk crates, we got a stellar view in the end. Just as well since the visual spectacular to come was quite unbelievable. To quote my father, "I didn't realise there were that many gays in Sydney. I think some of them must have been visiting." Love it!
As always, when we post a trip like this we highly recommend it, but I can imagine it's difficult to plan a trip so that it coincides with all of the major city events. If we were to compare this with the Sydney New Year's Eve fireworks, which wins? I suppose the latter, but this has a more intimate, up-close quality with equal wow factor... so you decide.
By Darrell Grundy - visited on 1 March 2008